高橋直純 – 7色のscene Naozumi Takahashi – Nana-iro no scene Naozumi Takahashi A\’LIVE 2005 \”scene TOUR\” 2005.8.21-2005.9.4 [2005.12.09] [DVD ISO 7.34GB]

Fifth live DVD of seiyuu and singer Naozumi Takahashi, featuring footage of his \”scene\” tour final, held at SHIBUYA-AX on September 4, 2005. The release reached #12 on Oricon\’s Music DVD chart.

The sound for this show feels pretty natural and clear; the instruments don\’t bleed together uncomfortably and there\’s a healthy sense of space rather than anything feeling \’cramped\’ and indistinct (special mention goes to the drums/percussion, which really \’pop\’ thanks to this).
The concert as a whole really benefits from that mixing decision, given that the setlist this time leans more towards songs that are simpler at their core and the arrangements favor a more organic sound.

\”Mahou no Te\” is about Naozumi\’s grandmother and \”Ame no Sora wa Hare Datta\” ties in to the difficult time he was having, relating to both his state at the time of this tour and the struggles he faced in trying to find professional success in any of his endeavors over the years as a whole. Together, they make for a touching pair of performances I feel are worth singling out in particular. Other recommendations marked below. italic underlines denote songs at least three out of the five people I watched this with agreed were a highlight of the show, bold italic underlines denotes unanimous agreement that a song was a major highlight.

Beyond all that, this DVD is the only place you can hear him sing this arrangement of \”Kaeri no Izumi\” live. Rather than the slow, soulful \’70s guitar groove that underlines his other performances of the song, here, he\’s performing it in a style which more likely resembles that of the orchestra he originally wrote it for (see here for more background).

scene 2 (main feature): A\’LIVE 2005 \”scene TOUR\” Final @ SHIBUYA-AX
2005/09/04 (September 4, 2005)
——-
01.) Hatsukoi (Kozo Murashita cover) [初恋]
02.) Natsu-iro no Tsubasa (夏色の翼)
03.) Boku wa Hero (僕はヒーロー)
04.) Donna Toki mo. (Noriyuki Makihara cover) [どんな時も。]
05.) Nagori Yuki (Kaguya-hime cover) [なごり雪]
06.) Kaeri no Izumi ~string quartet ver.~ (還りの泉 ～弦楽四重奏 ver.～)
07.) Ryuusei (流星) [cut from DVD release]
08.) Denkousekka no Koi (電光石火の恋)
09.) LOVE SHAKER
10.) Trouble Maker (トラブルメーカー)
11.) REPLAY (Tateki Kobayashi cover)
12.) Canary (カナリヤ)
13.) Mahou no Te (まほうの手)
14.) Ame no Sora wa Hare Datta (雨の空は晴れだった)
15.) Honoo no Namida de Naki-jakure (炎の涙で泣きじゃくれ)
16.) Go! Go! Over Drive
17.) stay (Hikigatari rendition) [stay -弾き語り-]
18.) Kimi ni Aete Yokatta (君に会えてよかった)

scene 3. On the Stage Extra (includes digest footage of most other character songs he performed as song #15 on other dates of the tour. You get about half of each song)
– Hyouheki no Kagami, Shakunetsu no Kibou (氷壁の鏡、灼熱の希望) [@ Sapporo KRAPS HALL, 2005.08.21]
– Haruka, Kimi no Moto e (遙か、君のもとへ…) [@ Fukuoka DRUM LOGOS, 2005.08.25]
– Arashi ni Nare, Hikari ni Nare (嵐になれ、光になれ) [@ Nagoya CLUB DIAMOND HALL, 2005.08.27]
– Taiyou no Senaka (太陽の背中) [@ Osaka BIG CAT, 2005.08.31]
– Aoi Tamashii no Tatsumaki(蒼い魂の龍巻) [@ Yokohama BLITZ, 2005.09.02]

Performers:
——-
Vo./Hca. Naozumi Takahashi
Gtr./Cho. U-Ken! (Kenji Ueki)
Bass. Shiro Maruyama
Dr./ Kaoru Suzuki (from IZANAMI)
Key./Cho. MASA
Sax./Cho. Satoshi \”Tag\” Taguchi
Perc. K-ta
VS Manip. Kaname Yano (TOWERS)
_________________________________________________________
Bonus features:

scene 1. Before the stage (pre-live footage)

scene 4. After the Stage (post-show footage, some MCs)

scene 5. Back Ground Video (special version of \”Mahou no Te\” PV)

scene 6. Photo Story (credits/photo roll)

scene 7. Few Days Later (footage of Naozumi in the countryside, possibly from the \”scene\” photobook sessions)

NOTE: Starting from 2003\’s \”Yes! SUMMERx2\” and continuing on until 2006\’s \”OKism\”, all of his live DVDs featured lossy (ac3) audio and somewhat rough (jagged) video. The discs are not bootleg and I\’ve been able to try several copies (including some directly from a Japanese friend who had bought them in-store back when they were new releases); this is unfortunately just how the company that his indie label had outsourced the DVD production to made them.
His first live DVD (\”A to Z\”) is unaffected by this, because Koei handled it directly.